Battery-plate separator.



H. E. PRATT.

BATTERY PLATE SBPARATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. z5, 1912.

lgggga Patented Mar.l18, 1913.

WHNESSES: \7

\7 \5/ 2 V3 Ihn/Hum 6 #MM a, mi@

ATTORNEYS TiflilES @Affili-lh HERBERT E. PPs-ATT, OF NEVI YORK, N. Y.,ASSGNOR T0 GOULD STORAGE BATTE-RY CGIIANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BATTERY-PLATE SEARATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led 'March 25, 1912.

atented Mar. its, :im 3. serial au. 635,973.

'tor the plates of storage batteries and the like.

@ne object ot my invention is to provide a new swarming means for suchplates which will keep the corners and edges of the plate troni comingtogether, keep them from crushing' the wood or pervious separatingvsheets used in such batteries, and which will prevent lead growths "fromone plate to another about the edges of the separator, thus avoiding'short circuits.

Further objects, features and advantages will more el arl'v :ppear Jfromthe detailed descriptimi given below taken in connection with theaccompanying; drawing which 'forms a part of this specification.

ln the drawing. Figure l a perspective illustrating two battery plateswith one toi-rrL ot my improved separating means ther-ehe wn, certainparts ln ing broken awa \v lo more clearly show the construction; Fig.L) is a section through a battery cell illustrating z; vertical sideview of the plates and separating' means.; Fig. 3 is a horizontalsection taken through the Aparts shown in Fig. 'l g ifiI e is a similarsection but showing a modilled arrangement; and Fig. 5 is another ilarsection but showing a still further n dirlearrangement.

' 'to r l, 2 and 3, l represents Reiger :fr one oi the l d plates ot aStorage batter Y, which plate .nay be posit-ive or negative,

.and 2 indicates the next plate of opposite polarity. S a thin sheet ofhard rubber whieh is ihn v perforated with holes-4 over its salutareexcept that the side edges 5 are importer-aie Ytor a. substantial width,as flea shown in Figs. l'and 3. The-sheet il liesar cent and parallel tothe plate l, and next to the rnbbe' sheet 3 is a sheet of wooflseparating material G, such as wood veneer K xoved wood ot any suitableor well known kind. Between the sheet. t3 and the platt 2 l placeanother hard rubber sheet T which is perforated with holes 8, eX- cepthat .the edges il thereo.C are lett im perforate for a substantialwidth. The plate T is made thicker at the edges so thatl it passes aboutthe end of the narrower sheet G to form spacing means l0 which space thetwo sheets G and 7 apart, the space hereL between being shown at l1. Asshown in Fig. 3 the portions l0. are recessed to receive the edges ofthe sheet 6, and are vnlcanized to the edges 5 of sneet 3. It will beunderstood that the rubber sheets Z3 and T are of material impervious tothe electrolyte l2 of the cell, while the wood veneer sheet is made ofmaterial which is pervious to the electrolyte ofthe cell.

Vixen wood veneer alone is used, it necessarily comes into Contact withthe plates, and this is found to injure or shortenthe lives of theplates. But by placing the rubber sheets 3 and 7 between the woodseparator (3 and the plates l and 2, the wood veneer is kept out ofContact with both plates, which preserves the plates very inaterially.rlhe perlorations in the rubber sheets allow ofa ready passage tor theelectrolyte therethrough to act on the plates while the space lll allowsthe wood veneer to become evenly permeated with the electrolyte oversubstantially its entire area. ltI will be noted thatl rubber sheets andT have their outer tacos lying 'close to and againstthe inner facesofthe plates l and f 2, and' thus these rubber sheets aid in holding thepaste. or active material in or onto the plates l and Q. rl`he woodsheet performs its well known functions while the rubber sheets keep itout ot' contact with the plates l and 2. The corners ot the plates l andare apt to curl or tend to curl and out through the wood veneer,tor-:ning a short circuit or injuring the saine. This is prevented bythe inter-.position of the rubber sheets. Also the tirrn and rifid hardrubber separating means extends from one plate to the other at the sideo't the plates so that the tendency ot the plates to curl an not causethe hard rubber plates to crush the wood sheet. This is facilitated bymaking the vwood sheet of less width than the plates. Moreover, sincethe rubber sheets prevent the wood troni touching` the act-ive plates,

' not performing the side edges oi' and 7, the possibility of lead.round the edge of the Wood veneer ed, thus preventing short circuits nseens-e. iodine-ation shown in Fig. @is suble saine as the :form ofseparating itigs. l, 2 and 3, except that rined on the opposite side ofwei i Yfrom the space 1l in order that e roilvte may have more readyaccess anlially the entire surface on this the wood sheet. This isaccomplished rising the thickness of the side edges the sheet 3 awayfrom the wood. l inoditication shown in Fig. 5 is sub l v the same asthat shown in Fig. 4, nat the wood sheet 6 is of the same i the rubbersheets Which are sepaereby and the sheets 3 and 7 are also una); 'fromthe plates l and 2 as at "this is accomplished by increas- ;ness theside edges 5 and 9 at liti to form suitable spacing means. 'z this formthe electrolyte is given l e to act on the plates, neverthernolmr sheetsdo not hold the active t in such a benecial manner, as dein connectionwith Figs. 3 and 4. 3.. termine; the spacing,l means by the thickness ofthe side edges 5 to provide suitable spacing means and t), it is obviousthat separate spacing strips may be placed adiacent said side edges andthe parts secured together' in any suitable manner, or both rubbersheets may be made integral with one another.

Although l have described my improvements in great detail and withrespect to certain particular embodiments thereof, nevertheless, l donot desire to be limited to such details except as clearly specified inthe appended claim, since many changes and modifications may Well bemade without depar ing from tlie spirit and scope of my invention in its)roadest aspects.

Having fully and clearly described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

Separating means for storage battery plates, embracing a separatingsheet of material pervous to the electrolyte, and a sheet on each sideof saidpervious sheet, said last mentioned sheets being perforated andsubstantially impervious to the electrolyte, and secured together attheir side edges about the pervious sheet.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my naine to this specification,inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERBERT E. PRATT. Witnesses:

Gom-MM Cnosm', lnwnv Sneek.

